Admiraal, W. (2015). A Role-Play Game to Facilitate the Development of Students’ Reflective Internet Skills. Educational
Technology & Society, 18 (3), 301–308.
A Role-Play Game to Facilitate the Development of Students’ Reflective
Internet Skills
Wilfried Admiraal
Leiden University Graduate School of Teaching, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands //
w.f.admiraal@iclon.leidenuniv.nl
(Submitted October 4, 2013; Revised May 27, 2014; Accepted November 18, 2014)
ABSTRACT
Although adolescents are currently the most frequent users of the Internet, many youngsters still have
difficulties with a critical, reflective, and responsible use of the Internet. A study was carried out on teaching
with a digital role-play game to increase students’ reflective Internet skills. In this game, students had to
promote a fictional celebrity. The six game levels cumulated in complexity and scope, and students played
different roles in each of them (e.g., manager, marketing manager, and journalist). In a one-group pre-test/posttest design, the implementation of the role-play game in four secondary school classes was evaluated using a
questionnaire on students’ reflective Internet skills. On both pre-test and post-test, girls generally out-performed
boys on reflective Internet skills. Repeated measures analyses showed that this gender difference was
significantly reduced by teaching with the role-play game. Boys significantly increased their reflective Internet
skills, but girls did not. Implications for teaching with this role-play game are presented along with indications
how the role-play game could be redesigned to be effective for all students.
Keywords
Media literacy, Reflective internet skills, Role-play game, Secondary education, Gender differences
Introduction
Even though they are members of a digital generation, many youngsters are digitally illiterate because they still have
great difficulties with critical, reflective, and responsible use of the Internet (e.g., van Deursen & van Diepen, 2013;
Kuiper, Volman, & Terwel, 2005; Squire, Devane, & Durga, 2008; Walraven, Brand-Gruwel, & Boshuizen, 2009).
Students need to develop their ability to determine the accuracy of online resources and the credibility of other users,
to know their online audience and how to present themselves accordingly, and to understand social norms and online
communication rules (cf. Litt, 2013). In the curricula of Dutch primary and secondary education, little attention is
paid to the development of this kind of reflective Internet skills of students. Students have to develop these skills
implicitly, during their free time or school time while completing school assignments. Teaching students these
reflective Internet skills more explicitly might facilitate the development of these skills. In this paper, we present the
results of an evaluation of teaching with a role-play game to promote students’ reflective Internet skills.
Reflective internet skills
With the rapid development of information and communication technologies and online communication technologies
in particular, adolescents are currently the most frequent users of the Internet. They spend more time online than
adults do, and they use the Internet more for social interaction. Although studies from the 1990s showed that
adolescents’ online communication increased their online relationships with strangers (e.g., Nie, 2001), recent
studies provide evidence that adolescents use the Internet more to maintain their existing friendships, become less
concerned how others perceive them, and feel fewer inhibitions in disclosing intimate information (cf. Valkenburg &
Peter, 2009). Obviously, when media use changes, its outcomes may change. Using the Internet for more and more
intimate communication demands more and different Internet skills of the user.
In a recent review of measurements of Internet skills, Litt (2013) concluded that most studies focused on information
and technical skills and that more attention is needed to study communicative and socio-emotional skills, such as the
ability to determine the credibility of other users, to know one’s online audience and how to present oneself
accordingly, and to understand the social norms of sites and services. Various concepts have been used to describe
these reflective Internet skills, of which media literacy is widely used in Dutch primary and secondary education.
Buckingham, Banaji, Burn, Carr, Cranmer, & Willett (2005) defines media literacy as “the ability to access,
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understand and create communications in a variety of contexts” (p. 9). This definition implies that media-literate
students know what information is available and how they can retrieve it; use and process information in a wide
range of ways; make judgments about the authenticity, honesty, relevance, or accuracy of information; and create
new products, and present, share and transfer information in suitable forms. The latter is also explored by Litt (2012)
as the notion of an “imagined audience”— a person’s mental conceptualization of the people with whom he or she is
communicating.
Studies on Internet skills of secondary school students in the Netherlands (van Deursen & van Diepen, 2013; van
Deursen, van Dijk, & Peters, 2011; Kuiper, Volman, & Terwel, 2009; Walraven et al., 2009) show that students
possess technical skills to use the Internet, but that they have problems with, among other things, accurate search
queries, critical evaluation of Internet sources, and awareness of their online audience. Many students appeared to be
inconsistent, impulsive, and impatient Internet users. These findings align with conclusions about reflective Internet
skills of secondary school students in other countries (e.g., Ba, Tally, & Tsikalas, 2002; Gui & Argentin, 2011; Kim
& Lee, 2013). Apparently, frequently use of the Internet does not automatically increase a reflective use of the
Internet. Adolescents need more guidance on how to use the Internet in a more reflective way, either in a schooling
context or during pastime.
More explicit attention for how to use the Internet in secondary schools might facilitate the development of reflective
Internet skills of students. However, Internet skills are not a standard component of the Dutch curriculum of
secondary schools and therefore few attempts are made in schools to improve them. These reflective Internet skills
are not explicitly taught because teachers are not familiar with the concept of media literacy (Moore, 2002) or
teaching reflective Internet skills does not fit easily in the school curriculum (Meabon Bartow, 2014; Walton &
Archer, 2004). Teaching reflective Internet skills is not about shielding young people from the influence of the media
but about enabling them to make informed decisions and to develop their understanding of and participation in the
media that surrounds them (Buckingham et al., 2005; Buckingham, 2007). In teaching reflective Internet skills,
students need to define their information needs, formulate questions and know how to locate, evaluate and use
information from many online sources. Probert (2009) argued that they need to be aware also of issues relating to the
ethical use of information, such as copyright and plagiarism.
From earlier research (e.g., Coiro, 2003; Dalton & Proctor, 2008; Kuiper et al., 2009; Walraven et al., 2009), the
following design principles can be derived to support teaching reflective Internet skills in secondary schools: (1) the
use of authentic tasks (tasks that are related to students’ everyday life; (2) teaching with group discussions to
overcome school practice in which students work quite isolated behind their computer and students’ tendency to
view the Internet as offering ready-made facts and figures; and (3) support for teachers on how to connect with the
Internet experiences of students. Internet games form one such authentic environment for students to practice and
develop their reflective Internet skills.
Teaching with games
Teaching with games can form an effective learning environment for teaching reflective Internet skills. Literature
reviews on game-based learning showed both short-term and long-term cognitive effects for students (Connolly,
Boyle, MacArthur, Hainey, & Boyle, 2012; Perrotta, Featherstone, Aston, & Houghton, 2013; Wouters, van
Nimwegen, van Oostendorp, & van der Spek, 2013; Wouters & van Oostendorp, 2013). In a meta-analysis on the
role of instructional support in game-based learning, Wouters and van Oostendorp (2013) analyzed findings of 29
studies on effects of game-based learning on knowledge and cognitive skills. These authors distinguished various
types of instructional support of games which were found to be effective in terms of increasing knowledge and
cognitive skills: (1) games in which ideas, characters, topics, and messages could be personalized (2) games with
oral instead of written explanations and (3) games with corrective feedback, modeling problem-solving processes
and stimulating students’ reflection and collaborative work. Neither narrative elements nor the interactivity of a
game were sufficient to explain differences in students’ knowledge gain and growth of cognitive skills.
Recently, three review studies were published on the use of games in teaching and learning. Firstly, Wu, Hsiao, Wu,
Lin, and Huang (2012) published a meta-analysis of studies on game-based learning from the period 1971–2009. The
focus of their analysis of the 91 selected studies was how the studies on game-based learning were explicitly
informed by learning theories. One of their conclusions is that only a few studies were informed by learning theories
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and the ones that were based their learning principles underlying teaching with games on constructivist ideas and
experiential learning theory. The latter finding aligns with the types of instructional support that Wouters and van
Oostendorp (2013) found triggered cognitive effects of game-based learning.
Secondly, Connolly et al. (2012) reviewed literature on teaching and learning with either serious digital games or
digital games for entertainment. They examined 129 studies, from the period 2004–2008, distinguishing different
gamegenres. Simulations and puzzle games were mostly used for learning, and action games, role-play games, and
generic games were mostly used for entertainment. Relatively few papers in the review were classified as serious
games (games used for education).
Thirdly, Wouters et al. (2013) conducted a meta-analysis of cognitive and motivational effects of digital serious
games, with an extensive overlap of studies from the meta-analysis on instructional support by Wouters and van
Oostendorp (2013). Although the period they studied covered 1990–2012, most studies were published more recently
(2007–2012). On the basis of 39 studies, the authors conclude that the use of serious games was effective in terms of
learning (knowledge and cognitive skills) and retention, but it was not more motivating. These effects were found to
be stronger when the game was used in multiple sessions rather than in one, when it was played in group rather than
individually, and when it was supported by other instructional methods that preferably mixed active and passive
learning.
The literature mentioned above suggests that teaching with games has the potential to increase students’ knowledge
and improve their learning activities. Particularly, the meta-analysis of Wouters and van Oostendorp (2013)
recommend that the use of games be accompanied by instructional support and a variety of pedagogical activities.
However, the use of games in teaching might not be equally effective for all students, depending on their learning
and technology preference. Although differences between boys and girls in time spent playing games seem to
decrease (Homer, Hayward, Frye, & Plass, 2012), digital game-playing has emerged as a predominately male
pastime (cf. Bryce & Rutter, 2003). Boys not only spend more time playing games than girls, they also prefer to play
different kinds of games. Boys tend to prefer action games (first-person shooters, fighting, and sports games), while
girls show a preference for playing simulations (virtual-world and virtual-life games) and puzzle games. No gender
differences are found with most other genres, such as role-play games and adventure games (Bonanno & Kommers,
2005; Hamlen, 2011; Homer et al., 2012).
These differences in preferences for games and gaming between boys and girls seem to be related to a different
motivation to play games. Boys tend to be more motivated to outdo other players (performance-only or performance
combined with mastery-achievement goals), while girls are less motivated by such goals. Gender is strongly
correlated with gaming frequency: very few girls were frequent gamers and few boys were non-gamers (Heeter, Lee,
Medler, & Magerko, 2011). Therefore, findings on gender differences in effects of teaching with games are mixed
and depend on game genre and the way it is used in class (Bonanno & Kommers, 2005; Hamlen, 2011; Homer et al.,
2012).
A study will be reported on the evaluation of teaching with a role-play game to promote reflective Internet skills of
lower grades secondary school students. In this study, competition between pairs was a major game activity in
teaching with the role-play game. Therefore, two hypotheses were formulated about the effects of the use of the roleplay game:
• Teaching with the role-play game increases students’ reflective Internet skills
• Boys increase their reflective Internet skills more than girls
A role-play game on reflective internet skills
A digital role-play game (SplitsZ!) was set up to develop students’ reflective Internet skills. An online workspace
was used, similar to Habbo Hotel (http://www.habbo.com/). The mission of the game was to promote a fictional
celebrity using towers with billboards and monitors (see Figure 1 for a screenshot of one of the towers). Each tower
was owned by a small group of students (pairs or triads created by the teacher to be mixed-gender groups) who
constructed their towers with clips, images, slogans, other textual sources. In each of the six levels, these pairs of
students played different roles (e.g., manager, marketing manager, and journalist), which were represented by
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avatars. The more popular a celebrity was, the higher the popularity scores of that group. Students were not required
to play the game at home or work on debates and reflections outside the lessons.
Figure 1. Screenshot of one of the towers in SplitsZ!
Lesson series
The intervention included a series of 12 to 18 lessons (in six to eight weeks) in which the six levels of the game were
played. The assignments in each level were prepared by the teacher and completed by students in class. Each level
was played within one lesson. In the next one or two lessons, students reflected on the assignments of the particular
game level, and the teacher organized a class debate. After the teachers briefly introduced the purpose of the game,
assignments, and game activities, students played the game in pairs or triads, which were created by the teachers.
The role of the teachers was limited to a general introduction, supporting students with technical problems and
elaborating on what the requirements of the assignments were. All content was included in the game, polls, and game
assignments.
Game levels
The six levels of the game increased in complexity and scope. In level 1, students started to develop a celebrity
profile (layout, character, and characteristics) and completed assignments on the influence of online media on how a
person is perceived. In level 2, students had to decide how to introduce their celebrity in the virtual world and
completed assignments on online branding, advertising, and social networking. Students used Hyves to promote their
celebrity. In level 3, students took the role of a media reporter in order to evaluate the celebrities of other students in
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public and completed assignments on hypes, trends, privacy, and serious editing. In level 4, students produced a
celebrity performance (clips, slideshow, etc.) and reflected on famous performances and advertisements. In level 5,
students reworked the media campaign of level 2 in order to generate hype around their celebrity. Finally, in level 6,
students took the role of journalist and wrote in pairs or triads a critical review about one of the campaigns of their
peers, which were set up in level 5.
Assignments
The game assignments and polls aimed to trigger the students’ awareness of how to present themselves and others
online, how to assess online sources critically, and what the influence of the Internet can be on their behavior and on
society. Completed assignments were included in a web journal, which students presented at the end of each level
(third lesson). Teachers used 20–24 polls (four per level) to test students’ reflective Internet skills. These polls asked
students whether they did or did not agree with several statements about a particular media campaign, Internet photo
series, or some Internet gossip. Examples of polls are about a photo series of Sarkozy (“what has been photo
shopped?”), paintings of Napoleon (“which painting was commissioned by Napoleon?”) or a gossip about a Dutch
politician. All polls started with an instruction on what kind of reflective skills were expected. Most students split up
roles and activities instead of collaboratively working on the assignments and polls.
Methods
Designs
Using a one-group pre-test/post-test design, we collected additional quantitative data of one class from four
secondary schools in the Western part of the Netherlands (with 80 Grade 7 students (of whom 59% were female).
These students played in gender-mixed pairs or triads that were determined by the individual school teachers. The
data of one boy was removed after outlier analyses.
Data
Students’ self-assessment of their reflective Internet skills was measured with a 15-item questionnaire indicating
behavior about and attitude towards consciously downloading information (images, clips, and text) from the Internet
(seven items, Cronbach’s α = 0.71) and uploading information on the Internet (eight items, Cronbach’s α = 0.73).
This questionnaire was developed specifically for this study and was based on the concept of digital judgment and
the ability to acquire, process, and produce digital information (Hatlevik & Christophersen, 2013). Most items were
formulated in statements and students had to indicate how applicable the statements were on their own situation (1 =
not at all to 5 = to a large extent). An example item for downloading information is “I check the accuracy of Internet
sources I use for homework assignments” and for uploading information: “I think carefully about who sees my
profile on the Internet.” The students also reported their daily use of technology, such as social software,
communication software, games, and virtual worlds (all items on a five-point scale with 1 = low frequency and 5 =
high frequency), as well as their gender and age.
Analyses
In order to examine the effects on students’ reflective skills, repeated measures analyses were used with the pre- and
post-test scores on both indicators of reflective Internet skills as within-subjects variables and gender as betweensubjects factor. In subsequent analyses, students’ age and technology use were added as covariates. Analyses were
performed on student level as pairs and triads were all mixed-gender groups and students were allowed to switch
groups. As the hypotheses were one-sided, a significance level of α = .10 was used.
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Results
The results of the repeated measures analyses are summarized in Table 1. For reflective Internet skills, in terms of
consciously downloading information from the Internet, we found a significant effect of time and of time by gender.
Students generally scored higher on the post-test than on the pre-test (F(1,67) = 3.28; p = .075; η2 = .05), with an
interaction effect for gender (F(1,67) = 3.82; p = .055; η2 = .05). Boys (t(29) = −2.07; p = 0.05) and not girls (t(38) =
0.14; p = 0.89) showed a small increase in their scores on consciously downloading information. We found a similar,
yet stronger, outcome with consciously uploading information to the Internet. Students had increased significantly at
the post-test (F(1,67) = 6.79; p = .011; η2 = .09), with an interaction effect for gender (F(1,67) = 5.04; p = .028; η2 =
.07). Boys increased their scores significantly (t(29) = −2.90; p = 0.01), and girls did not, staying at their high level
of the pre-test (t(38) = −0.30; p = 0.76).
Table 1. Repeated measures analyses with gender for downloading and uploading online information
Pre-test
Post-test
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Downloading information
Boys
3.10
1.04
3.45
0.72
Girls
3.86
0.66
3.84
0.75
All
3.53
0.92
3.67
0.76
Uploading information
Boys
2.36
0.69
2.82
0.77
Girls
3.25
0.72
3.28
0.78
All
2.86
0.83
3.08
0.80
N
30
39
69
30
39
69
After controlling for students’ ages and their daily use of technology, both interaction effects with gender were
somewhat stronger (with η2 = .08 for downloading information and η2 = .11 for uploading information). So, we found
a medium-sized positive effect of game-based learning on reflective Internet skills of boys. The differences between
boys and girls in downloading and uploading information from the Internet are significant, even at the post-test
(t(1,67) = 2.20; p = .02 for downloading and (t(1,67) = 2.20; p = .02 for uploading information). This means that,
although we found an effect of the role-play game on reflective skills of boys, boys still scored significantly lower
than girls after the game was played.
Discussion and conclusion
A significant gender effect was found of the digital role-play game, which meant that boys, and not girls, increased
their reflective Internet skills, as indicated by their awareness of Internet use for both downloading information from
and uploading information to the Internet. However, even after playing the game, boys still scored significantly
lower on both measures than girls.
An implication of this study might be to play the role-play game individually in class and in pairs or small groups
outside class. Although playing in pairs was meant to trigger discussion and interaction behind the computer,
students split up tasks and activities instead. The role-play is designed to be played with collaboration and
competition as a part of the game, not in front of the computer. This would also imply that the game can be (partly)
played at home, which would also offer better possibilities for including parents in game activities and in the
communication about the game. Parent tutoring appeared to be a fruitful way to create additional learning
opportunities for children (Daly III & Kupzyk, 2012; Erion, 2006).
Most technology issues (e.g., slow-moving avatars, limited server space, and unclear error messages) were solved in
the next release of the game. We still need to make the game more gender-inclusive. Although the competitive part,
which is understood to attract boys more than girls, was not fully implemented because most students did not find
parts of the software on how they could increase their popularity scores, boys increased their reflective skills more
than girls did. In an earlier study on a secret trail game (Admiraal, Huizenga, Akkerman, & ten Dam, 2011), we
found that competitive game activities positively mediated the learning outcomes for boys and, to a lesser extent, for
girls. However, in contrast to the current study, both boys and girls showed positive learning outcomes. This might
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be caused by the fact that other game activities (i.e., collecting data and navigating through the game) mediated
gender effects on learning outcomes as well. The findings of the literature on gender-inclusive design of games (e.g.,
Dickey, 2006; Kafai, 1994; van Eck, 2006) can provide insight into how to design a gender-inclusive game, although
a teacher can reinforce or weaken gender-inclusiveness by stimulating, adding, or deleting particular game activities.
Games do not teach students. What is important is how games are used in class.
Keeping in mind that our conclusions on gender differences in game-based learning were limited because they were
based on the investigation of a particular educational game, we would like to close with implications for game-based
learning and gender-inclusive game design. In line with the viewpoint of Gansmo (2009) about a gender-inclusive
use of technology in education, we would advocate to see game-based learning as a variety of technologies and
approaches. Using multiple hardware and software as well as varying themes, characters and layout of games could
make game-based learning a fruitful experience for both boys and girls. The use of variety and multiplicity also holds
for how games are used in education. Assignments that solely ask for activity, strategy, or creativity might benefit
either boys or girls, whereas problem-solving tasks or game tasks that require student exploration with various
student cognitive activities can create meaningful learning opportunities for both boys and girls.
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